reat all their elders with
the greatest respect; and it must have been a pretty sight to see all
these manly fellows respectfully saluting all the old people they met,
and even stopping their play to make way for them when they came on the
street.

To strengthen their muscles, the boys were also carefully trained in
gymnastics. They could handle weapons, throw heavy weights, wrestle, run
with great speed, swim, jump, and ride, and were experts in all
exercises which tended to make them strong, active, and well.

XXIV. PUBLIC TABLES IN SPARTA.

The Spartan men prided themselves upon living almost as plainly as the
boys, and, instead of eating their meals at home with the women and
children, they had a common table. Each man gave a certain amount of
flour, oil, wine, vegetables, and money, just enough to provide for his
share of food.

Instead of having varied and delicate dishes, they always ate about the
same things; and their favorite food was a thick dark stew or soup,
which they called black broth. Rich and poor were treated alike, sat
side by side, and ate the same food, which was intended to make them
equally strong and able to serve their country.

The girls and women never came to these public tables; but the boys were
given a seat there as soon as they had learned their first and most
important lesson, obedience.

When the boys came into the public dining hall for the first time, the
oldest man present called them to him, and, pointing to the door,
solemnly warned them that nothing said inside the walls was ever to be
repeated without.

Then, while the boys took their places and ate without speaking a word,
the old men talked freely of all they pleased, sure that Spartan lads
would never be mean enough to repeat anything they said, and trusting to
their honor.

Although the Spartans had wine upon their table, they were a very
temperate people, and drank only a very little with each meal. To show
the boys what a horrible thing drunkenness is, and the sure result of
too much drinking, the old men sometimes gave them an object lesson.

They sent for one of the meanest Helots or slaves, and purposely gave
him plenty of wine. He was encouraged to go on drinking until he sank on
the floor in a drunken sleep. Then the old men would point him out to
the boys, and explain to them that a man who has drunk too much is
unworthy of the love or esteem of his fellow-creatures, and is in many
ways worse than